Downeast Maine

     I'm getting the hang of it here in Maine. My favorite little historic village, Bath, was in Mid-Coast Maine. I'm now traveling further north in Downeast Maine, which is not down but UP the coast. Turns out, Bath is just a drop in the bucket (tub?) of cute little historic Coastal Maine villages. Everywhere there are huge historic homes and buildings registered with a Historic Society. This home in Belfast was built in 1840 by James White who was a merchant and the town's mayor during the Civil War.

The "White House" yard is home to the largest copper beech tree in Maine. But, all the historic homes have equally beautiful large trees.

     Next door to Belfast's hospital parking lot (my boondocking space for two nights) is the town's city park. The park has a pool, free of charge and miraculously, un-crowded! Of course, I swam an hour as swimming for me is similar to yoga exercising for others. 

Spent a day walking around Belfast admiring not only the historic buildings, but many displays of potted flowers on the ground, on window sills, hanging from hooks, they're everywhere.

Even on country roads, wildflowers galore.

Walking on lawns, I notice tiny flowers.

People plant flowers across the street on property that doesn't belong to them.

And not just many flowers, many boats of all shapes and sizes everywhere.

     Below is the headwaters of the Passagassawakeag River named by the Passamaquoddy tribe which means "a place for spearing sturgeon by torchlight." Threw that in here cause it's funky info :)

I'm still favoring gravel roads off the main coastal road (US 1), to look for moose. But no sightings yet.

No moose here . . . .

     This morning I crossed a river on the Penobscot Narrows Bridge. There's a passenger elevator to the top of the left tower, but I didn't stop to experience it. Fellow travel blogger Steve already shared his experiences.

     By the way, Maine's coastline isn't always flat . . . . 

     For the next four days, I'll be exploring Ellsworth, Maine, just soaking in the culture and wandering until I can check in at my campsite at Acadia National Park.